Videos show chaotic NYC pro-Palestinian protest: “Christmas is cancelled!”

Altercations between demonstrators and police erupted on Christmas Day in New York City during a protest in support of Palestinians.

The protest, organized by Palestinian-led group Within Our Lifetime (WOL), was scheduled to start at 2 p.m. outside News Corp headquarters, also home to Fox News, in Midtown Manhattan. WOL advertised for the demonstration on X, formerly Twitter, Monday morning, writing, “ALL OUT FOR PALESTINE! CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED!”

According to videos posted to X, hundreds of protesters flooded the streets of New York City, holding signs that read “Enough is Enough,” “Support Palestinian Resistance” and “What Would Jesus Do?” A compilations of videos shared by X account DataInput showed marching protesters disrupting traffic on East 42nd Street while waving Palestinian flags and chanting.

Additional videos of the protest also showed altercations break out between demonstrators and New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers. According to one post by the Shirion Collective, which describes itself as a “Jewish surveillance group,” police circle fellow law enforcement officers who appear to be detaining a pro-Palestinian demonstrator. Other protesters begin pushing against police blocking the arresting officers from the rest of the protest. Some people in the background of the video can be heard yelling, “He’s got a knife.”

“Police are being attacked,” the Shirion Collective wrote along with the video.

Shirion posted another video later in the night of another instance of pro-Palestinian protesters clashing with police. The X account @rawalerts also shared a video of protestors shoving back and forth with officers. Some demonstrators in the video appear to be detained.

Newsweek reached out to the NYPD via email for comment Monday night.

Protests have broken out across the globe in response to the Israel-Hamas war. Supporters of Palestinians have repeatedly called for a ceasefire in light of Israel’s heavy military response to the Hamas attacks of October 7, which killed roughly 1,200 people in Israel. Health officials in Gaza have said that more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war broke out.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in front of the homes of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Christmas morning. The protesters outside Austin’s house called for a ceasefire in Gaza and chanted, “Austin, Austin, rise and shine, no sleep during genocide.”

President Joe Biden has repeatedly rejected calls for a ceasefire, putting him at odds with younger voters and progressive members of the Democratic Party ahead of the 2024 election. More than 40 interns who work at the White House wrote a letter this month to the president, asking him to demand a permanent ceasefire.